Guelph Synchronized Swim Club where artistry meets athletics Welcome from the GSSC Communications & Events Coordinator Hello, my name is Sherry Butts and I am the GSSC Communications and Events Coordinator. My daughter Katelyn Butts swims on the 13-15 Competitive team. I have held the communications and events role for the past two years. It has been so exciting to see the club grow the last few years and to watch our swimmers progress year after year. My daughter Katelyn has been swimming the GSSC for 5 years and this is her 3 rd year of competitive swimming - she truly cannot get enough of this sport. It is so nice to see the friendships she has built through the club over the years. I have really enjoyed my executive position covering communications and events. My main job is to relay communications from the executive and coaches to our members. As well, I try to ensure any incoming questions get directed to the proper person. For events, I generally work with a group of coaches and volunteers sharing ideas for our water shows and other club activities. Getting to know the parents and coaches a bit better is always part of the fun. As the season moves along, I look forward to a new Novice session starting in January, our February fundraising dance and attending our competitive meets. As a reminder, if you have any questions please send your email to me at communication@guelphsynchroswi m.ca Sherry Butts GSSC Communications and Events Coordinator Volume 1, Issue 5 January 1, 2012 Fun Facts: Ontario Winter Games, March 5-12, 2012!!! Swimmers had a fabulous showing at the Lisa Alexander Figures Meet GSSC Fundraising Dance on February 11, 2012 Novice Program (Winter Session) will start on January 21, 2012 Inside this issue: Lisa Alexander Figures Meet Results.... Competitor Age Category Total Score Placement Taylor Varnai 10&Under 53.582 28 Drew Trainor 10&Under 52.500 32 Caroline Bendall 10&Under 52.332 34 Madison Solda 11-12 60.085 14 Noelle MacDonald 11-12 49.832 101 Jocelyn Begin 13-15 58.835 21 Katelyn Butts 13-15 58.415 25 Sarah Plant 13-15 57.000 37 Sophie Reimer 13-15 56.918 38 Elise Letarte 13-15 55.083 58 Nicole Rauser 13-15 55.002 60 Competitor Age Category Total Score Placement Bridget Wilson 13-15 53.667 77 Clare Vais 13-15 53.665 78 Breanna Pratley 13-15 52.835 87 Luciana Mejia 13-15 50.750 99 Samantha Ben 13-15 50.168 106 Anna Hofstra 13-15 48.500 114 Julia Batista 13-15 48.085 115 Coral Meredith 16-20 55.833 44 Madison Andrews 16-20 55.668 46 Rachel Rauser 16-20 53.250 55 Did You Know.. 2 Swim Meets 2 GSSC Executive 3 Important Dates 3 Supporting our Club 4 Reminders 5 Tobacco-Free Policy 5 2011-12 Sponsors 6
Did You Know.... Synchronized swimming grew as a sport from ornamental swimming and theatrical water ballets of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. In the early days, male swimmers performed round-dances in the water as a swimming art form, decorated with garlands or Chinese lanterns. 1891 - Royal Life Saving Society of Great Britain (RLSS) published a handbook for swimmers encouraging ornamental swimming or scientific swimming. 1891 & 1892 first contests held in Berlin and London (for men). However, artistic swimming became accepted as better suited to women because they were more buoyant, especially in the legs, and able to better make pictures with their bodies on the surface of the water. 1907 - Australian Annette Kellerman was described as the first under-water ballerina when she performed in a glass tank at the New York Hippodrome. 1921 - A group of women opened the German national swimming championships in Leipzig with an exhibition of figure swimming but the main impulse came from Canada. 1924 a world first, the Quebec provincial championship for figure and stroke competition, limited to women, was held in Montreal, with the figures taken from the scientific swimming section of the RLSS handbook. Top Canadian diver and water polo player Margaret (Peg) Sellers played a pioneering role and, two years later, won the first official national championship in performing figures and strokes. 1923 Katherine Curtis started a water ballet club at the University of Chicago (USA) and roughly around the same time Gertrude Goss introduced rhythmic swimming at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. 1934 Curtis took 60 swimmers, the Modern Mermaids, to perform in the lagoon at the World Fair in Chicago. It was there that the term synchronized swimming was first introduced to the audience by the announcer, Norman Ross (Olympic freestyle champion in the 400m and 1,500m in 1920). 1934 Kaethe Jacobi, in Germany, introduced competition in floating patterns with her Isar-Nixen (Isar Mermaids) in Munich. 1940 Esther Williams, a US freestyle champion and film star, performed a water ballet at the San Francisco World Fair. The first synchronized swimming competition was held in the USA. Williams made many aqua musicals exposing the sport to the world. *Synchronized swimming grew increasingly technical and athletic, with music accompanying the routines. 1952-1968 Synchronized swimming sought a place in the Olympics and was featured as a demonstration sport. 1951 Canada and USA demonstrated the sport at the first Pan- American Games in Buenos Aires 1952 Synchronized swimming joined the FINA group, adopting rules in accordance with proposals from Canada, USA, Argentina and countries where ornamental and figure swimming had caught the public s imagination. (A Peruvian proposal to ask the IOC for Olympic status was rejected). 1955 Synchronized swimming celebrated its first official international competition appearance at the Pan-American Games in Mexico. It featured solo, duet and team events and the USA swept all three titles. 1967 Synchronized swimming received much recognition, when Pam Morris (one of San Francisco s Merionettes) was the first synchronized swimmer to be inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame. 1973 Synchronized swimming entered global competition, with the USA, Canada and Japan competing at the inaugural FINA World Championships in Belgrade. 1984 Synchronized swimming finally took its place as a full Olympic sport at the Los Angeles Games. Upcoming Swim Meets... Competitive (13-15) Swimmers Ontario Winter Games - Trials (Jan. 29, 2012) Ontario Winter Games (if team qualifies) (sometime between Mar. 5-12, 2012) West Regionals (Mar. 24-25, 2012) Hilton Worldwide Invitational (Apr. 20-22, 2012) Age Groups (May 17-20, 2012) Developmental (13-15) Swimmers Waterloo Invitational (Jan. 28, 2012) West Regionals (Mar. 24-25, 2012) Age Groups (May 17-20, 2012 Volume 1, Issue 5 Competitive (10 & Under) Swimmers Waterloo Invitational (Jan. 28, 2012) West Regionals (Mar. 24-25, 2012) Hilton WorldWide Invitational (Apr. 20-22, 2012) Age Groups (May 17-20, 2012) Trilliums (12 and under meet only) (June 9-10, 2012) Novice Pre-Competitive Novice Figure and LTAD Meet (Mar. 3, 2012) Novice Routine Meet (May 5, 2012) All Swimmers (Recreational included) Varsity Synchro Meet (Competitive and Developmental only) - Jan 14 @ UofG Pool College Royal - Mar. 17 (1-3) @ UofG Pool Year End Water Show - April 25 (5-7) @ UofG Pool Page 2
2011-2012 GSSC Executive Executive Members President: Shelly Andrews Manager: Kate McDonald Treasurer/Banker: Adele Begin Secretary: Joanne Trainor Registrar: Andrea Rauser Communications/Events Liaison: Sherry Butts Novice (Recreational) Coordinator: Louise McIntyre Clothing Coordinator: Greg Meredith Non-Voting Executive Members Head Coach: Katherine Frost Marketing/Website Coordinators: Lisa Plant Fundraising Coordinator: Louise McIntyre Fundraising Committee Members: Susan McLeod Nancy Middleton Volunteers Needed!!! We are looking for volunteers to sit on our fundraising committee. This committee will work together to coordinate fundraising initiatives and events. Throughout the swimming season we will be asking parents to volunteer some time to assist with events. Remember that all pre-competitive, developmental and competitive team parents need to fulfill your required volunteer hours. Important dates January 2012 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 Duets/Solos - VicDavis (5:30-7:30) 4 NO SWIM 5 6 GSSC Table at Stone Road Mall (info & registration) 7 NO SWIM GSSC Table at Stone Road Mall (info & registration) 8 Comp/Dev-VicDavis (8-12) Pre-Comp Vic Davis (9-12) GSSC Table at Stone Road Mall (info & registration) 9 10 11 12 GSSC Exec. Meeting 6:00pm MacKinnon 720 13 14 VARSITY SYNCHRO MEET (Univ. of Guelph) 15 Comp/Dev-VicDavis (8-12) Pre-Comp Vic Davis (9-12) 16 17 18 19 20 21 Novice (Rec) - UofG (12:30 start) Pre-Comp UofG (12-3) Solos UofG (1-3) REGISTRATION Winter Session (12-3) Try Synchro (1-2) 22 Comp/Dev-VicDavis (8-12) 23 24 25 26 27 28 Novice (Rec) - UofG (12:30 start) Pre-Comp UofG (12-3) Waterloo Invitations (Dev/Comp Teams) 29 Ontario Winter Games Qualifier (13-15 Comp Team & Duets) - Elmira 30 31 Feb. 1 2 3 4 Novice (Rec) - UofG (12:30 start) Pre-Comp UofG (12-3) Solos UofG (1-3) Volume 1, Issue 5 Page 3
Supporting Our Club Fundraising Fundraising Dance Guelph Synchro will be hosting a fundraising dance on Saturday, February 11th, 2012 at the Bullring, University of Guelph. Tickets are $10 each. If you require tickets please contact Louise McIntyre. Hope to see everyone there.... Groov n to the 80 s. 50/50 draw, door prizes, toonie toss Elmira Chicken & MacGregor Meats Fundraising to Date GSSC will be selling Elmira Chicken and MacGregor Meats at the end of February. More details will follow. Your support will assist GSSC in coaching development, a team training consultant and to increase awareness about synchronized swimming in our community. Volume 1, Issue 5 Page 4
REMINDERS.... Child Fitness Tax Credit Synchronized Swimming qualifies for the Child Fitness Tax Credit. All parents will receive their official tax receipt by email in February 2012 by the Club s Treasurer. If you have any questions, please c o n t a c t t h e T r e a s u r e r a t treasurer@guelphsynchroswim.ca For more information on the Child Fitness Tax go to the government website: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca Inclement Weather Please listen to CJOY 1460, MAGIC 106.1. or visit our website www.guelphsynchroswim.ca for inclement weather class cancellations. We do not cancel classes just because school buses are not running. We only cancel classes if the University of Guelph closes their pool. Classes cancelled due to inclement weather are not rescheduled. Novice Program - Winter Registration Registration for the Winter Session of the Novice Program has begun. Registration forms can be found on the GSSC website under the Forms tab. You can submit your registration form along with a post-dated cheque (dated for Jan. 3, 2012) to the Novice Director over the next couple of weeks, or leave it in the GSSC Mailbox at the University Pool. GSSC launches new Tobacco-Free Policy Commitment The Guelph Synchronized Swim Club understands and recognizes that there are health hazards associated with the use of tobacco products, which includes the breathing of second hand smoke. One of the purposes of our club is to promote a healthy and active way of living to our members so it is our responsibility to model and encourage tobacco-free lifestyles. We encourage our coaches, parents, volunteers, spectators, athletes, and all others involved, to diligently maintain and promote a tobacco-free environment at all times. We regard synchronized swimming as being a healthy sport and as such, we believe we have a responsibility to our athletes and the participants of our sport, to demonstrate healthy choices. In the best interest of the health, well-being and safety of our athletes, coaches, volunteers and members at large, we have implementation of the following Tobacco-Free policy. Policy All Guelph Synchronized Swim Club performances, swim meets, competitions, fundraisers and any other event sanctioned by our organization will be tobacco-free. Tobacco free is defined as no smoking, snuffing, dipping, or chewing tobacco by athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers, parents, spectators and others. Behavioural Expectations The Guelph Synchronized Swim Club recognizes that role modeling can have a significant impact upon the young members of the club. Hence, the following individuals and groups are to refrain from using tobacco while participating in a sanctioned club event: Coaches (when coaching, representing the club or while in club uniform) Executive Members (while attending a sanctioned club event and/or representing the club) Officials/Judges (when officiating for the club) Volunteers (while working / representing the club) Athletes (when representing the club or while in club uniform) Parents (while attending a sanctioned club event) When athletes, coaches, and parents are attending out of town events, the above named individuals are considered to be acting in an official capacity and representing the club, even away from the event venue, if they are in the presence of minor club members. Overall, the Guelph Synchronized Swim Club will: 1. prohibit all tobacco use by everyone indoors 2. prohibit outdoor tobacco use by those in club uniform 3. discourage outdoor tobacco use by parents when they are in the presence of minor club members. For the complete copy of the Tobacco- Free Policy please visit: http://guelphsynchroswim.ca/wp- content/uploads/2010/05/gssc- TobaccoFreePolicy.pdf Volume 1, Issue 5 Page 5
where artistry meets athletics Mailing Address: Guelph Mailing Synchronized Address: Swimming Club PO Guelph Box Synchronized 21044 Swimming Club 35 PO Harvard Box 21044 Road Guelph, 35 Harvard Ontario Road N1G 4T3 Guelph, Ontario N1G 4T3 E-mail: president@guelphsynchroswim.ca @GsscGuelph http://www.facebook.com/groups/135789279806438/ Zehr s Tapes We re on the Web! http://guelphsynchroswim.ca Zehr s gives GSSC $1 for every $450 in Zehr s tapes. Place your Zehr s tapes in an envelope with your swimmer s name on the outside of the envelope and submit it to Louise McIntyre or place them in the GSSC mailbox at the University of Guelph pool. Thank You for Your Support! Thank You to our 2011-2012 Sponsors Janice Jurus, CFP Financial Consultant janice.jurus@investorsgroup.com (519) 823-1347 Brad Butts, AACI, P. App. Wellington Appraisal 340 Woolwich Street, Guelph 519.766.1500 http://www.wellingtonappraisal.com/ Volume 1, Issue 5 Page 6